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randomjreader · 1 year

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Oh my god...I usually wait till I finish a series (or at least most of it) before I post my opinion about it, just so I don't eat my words later on, but this series, "Not Me" by GMMTV in particular is just too good, and I don't see how I could possibly grow to dislike it later on. Just look at these scene (SOMEWHAT SPOILERS AHEAD, BUT LIKE ALSO NOT REALLY):

I actually shed a tear at this scene, simply because of how overwhelmingly powerful it is. Especially in this part of the world, where it's relatively more conservative, these kinds of scenes are rarely, if ever, shown on Asian media. (In fact, I think this is the first time GMMTV (a company well known for making Thai BLs) has shown a pride flag being waved around like this.) Hell, even around the world you don't see this kind of thing in fictional media often. So it just makes me feel emotional to see Not Me, a Thai series, give us a scene that shows a group of people being so proud of what they stand for and what they are fighting for. It really hit me hard, and I know that this scene was incredibly impactful to many others too, especially those who live in countries that are strongly against the LGBTQ community.

But this series doesn't just give great representation to the queer community, it goes further than that. I'm only halfway through this show, and I feel like I've already learnt so much about socio-political issues. The way this show was written was so damn GOOD; every episode brought up a new societal issue that is prominent in not just Thailand, but other parts of the world too. They've touched on class privilege, police brutality, impunity, ect. And I just know that they'll continue to shine light on more important topics as the series goes on.

The way they've portrayed the fighting of injustice was so well done too. The world is complex, there's never a black and white when it comes to socio-political issues. The way they've shown the trade offs between the different ways of fighting back against a corrupt power is everything to me, because it shows just how complex these situations are, how the actions taken by the "rebels" fighting can have both terrible consequences as well as meaningful outcomes. Each character has layers, and different approaches to dealing with issues, and each time they do they always show both sides of the coin — so far everything that has been done doesn't give some optimistic end result. They've stayed realistic; they've shown the good and the bad, and I think that that's something that's so important to express in a show that addresses real world issues, because in real life not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Actions have consequences, and you can tell through the writing and acting that the characters, in particular the main character, are constantly struggling with this, between wanting to make change and not wanting innocent people to get caught in the crossfire, which is near impossible when it comes to situations like these, because there will always be victims who lose out. It's just all very realistic, and shines light on just how messed up our society is, and I think that's so important for everyone to know.

Honestly, at this point, I'm just kinda rambling because I have wayy to many thoughts about this whole damn show, and I haven't sorted them out properly yet. I just needed to get them all out before I continue because there's just way too much I'm in awe of. Seriously, props to the actors, the writers, the directors, just basically everyone who was involved in creating this series, because it's just so damn meaningful and impactful. The balls they had to push for this project and release it, especially at a time where there was quite a bit of political unrest, is truly remarkable.

If there was ever a show I wanted to suggest to everyone to watch, it'd be this one. If you're into learning more about socio-political issues, and want to watch an exciting drama that tackles these issues head on and do it hella well, watch it. It has already hooked me from the start and I'm so confident that it's good that I'm releasing my opinion before I even start the second half.

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ppeonppeonhan · 5 months

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Top 10 2023 BL Kisses

If you've seen at least a couple BLs you know that some of these actors are either uncomfortable kissing another man or just didn't get enough practice kissing literally anyone. So when they get it right and genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves, it is worth noting. Soooo grab a pen and paper, and take some notes:

You Are Mine: This Taiwanese drama was problematique with the unbalanced workplace power dynamics, but this sweet upside down kiss was worth the wait.

Dangerous Romance: This may not have been their first kiss, but it felt like the most romantic. By this point, they'd shared many scenes filled with awkward sexual tension, but this one didn't have an ounce of humor, and Kanghan and Sailom just melted into each other's arms.

Kiseki: Dear to Me: The lighting for this kiss really emphasized their till-death-do-us-part themed dialogue where they vowed to die seconds apart.

Stay By My Side: Lackluster supernatural subplot aside, this Taiwanese drama delivered the most adorable kiss as the main lead was too nervous to give in to his desires without closing his eyes.

Be My Favorite: It took Kawi a frustratingly long time to pull his head out of his ass and realize he would be lucky to have Pisaeng even as a friend let alone a boyfriend. Thank goodness for Pisaeng's patience, cause ours was wearing thin.

Love Class 2: Very happy Ma Ru realized he had feelings for his bestie and wasted no time making that clear with an epic kiss that I have probably rewatched a dozen times.

Only Friends: Honestly, all of their kisses were incredible, because both of these actors went from supporting characters to lead roles, and did not skip a beat. There was no awkward beginner's kiss phase. Those intimacy workshops must've been lit.

Step by Step: Their kiss chemistry was on point, but the car scenes were the most memorable for how very possible they would've been caught in the act in the parking garage of their place of employment. Caution meet wind.

Wedding Plan: These two were about five seconds away from making a baby in that car, and if this were the omegaverse, they probably would've.

Hidden Agenda: There was hunger in that kiss on both sides, and it took every ounce of strength in Zo to shove Joke out the door once he made his intention clear.

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pastelalleycat · 3 days

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Like its predecessor, the Illumination movie Sing 2 features sideplots with its deurotagonists that revolve around and eventually assimilate into the central story (putting on the in-movie musical Out of This World). Now, I love Sing 2. Despite a shaky first act, it has an incredible finale that hits almost every chord right. But there's a part of the movie I haven't seen anyone complain about (besides me, in YouTube comment sections) and I really think it needs to be addressed. It hasn't left my head since the movie came out and it still really rubs me the wrong way.

...that part is Darius, okay? I hate Darius.

Please hear me out.

In Meena's sideplot she has to kiss someone on stage for her song, but not having had her first kiss yet, she feels incredibly nervous about it. Buster Moon tells her not to worry, because he thinks he's got the perfect guy to pair with her. In comes the new hire, an acclaimed Broadway-equivalent actor sure to sweep her off her feet.

Darius is a girl's stereotypical first date: charismatic, moody, a little ditzy, very romantic. He doesn't make the best impression with either Meena or Buster, but especially with Meena; he gloats about the success of his previous show, only after doing so addressing he's been told about Meena's nerves- forgetting her name in the process.

When Meena tries to correct Darius ("it's Meena, not Gina"), he asks her not to interrupt him in the future instead of accepting the criticism. Meena's ears are pulled close to her face, a behavior carried over from the first film that she does when feeling very shy and guarded.

Their initial rehearsal doesn't go well, with Darius initiating unwanted physical contact with Meena. The chemistry is very clearly not working, and everyone can see it, but they assume it's just a rocky start.

This is where the problems really begin.

A phrase that's frequently thrown around with Darius and Meena is "find the feeling". Miss Crawly says it (in essence, at least) over her megaphone to try to get the co-stars in line, but Darius is by far the one who uses it the most. It's not a comforting statement, it's not a "let's work this out", it's a demand- because if the chemistry isn't there when the curtains go up, Darius's reputation could be affected. (Meena's as well, but he's not concerned about that.)

Meena runs outside to get some fresh air and meets Alphonso- voiced rather impressively by Pharrell Williams, as a sidenote- and it's not only love at first sight, perhaps her first real crush even, but the antithesis of everything Darius is. Sweet, non-judgemental, genuinely appreciative.

It was at this point, watching the movie for the first time, that I guessed how Meena's story would wrap up. She'd tell Buster she was uncomfortable, Darius would get kicked to the curb, and they'd hire Alfonso to star alongside her. Happy ending. (If only Alfonso could sing, but we never get any indication he has talent or experience, just that Meena imagines so.)

Well, Meena tells Buster no less than twice through the subplot that she's uncomfortable with Darius. Instead of letting her explain and listening to her concerns, he quickly tells her she has to stay with him for the act. The anxiety and stress and Darius's smartassery just keep building until the actual performance.

Darius asks her one last time, desperately, still calling her Gina, to "find the feeling".

She imagines Alphonso.

And she does it.

And that's, apparently, the victory the story was looking for. Darius goes with the rest of the cast on the big tour, Meena gets Alphonso's number so she can FaceTime him every now and then, and everyone's okay with how the stars aligned.

But me? God, I'm not. The fact that Darius recieved zero backlash (as far as I know), that his stuck-up behavior was treated as cute and quirky by the fanbase, infuriates me. I rarely get infuriated by cartoons, but this, as an AFAB person who was groomed online, is something I absolutely can't stand. Darius is treated as a comedic figure, and yes, it's "just" a kiss, but his behavior is far from funny, and a first kiss that goes anything like this is far from inconsequential.

Meena should never have been pushed to the point of needing to imagine someone in Darius's place in order to play her role. She should never have been forced to act with, much less kiss, him at all. It reminds me, tragically, of how people in situations of continued distress will imagine themselves in a better place to help them get through it. How a young girl, if she's attracted to boys or raised to assume such, may assume she must always be willing to please her boyfriend before taking her own needs into account.

Meena deserved so much better in Sing 2. She needed Buster to listen to her, Rosita to give her candy from her purse, Johnny to give her a hug, Günter to make her laugh. She needed a community. The kids watching her did, too. And the film didn't give them that dignity.

#sing movie #sing 2021 #sing 2 #media analysis #tw abuse #mint's posts 💛

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pacificwaternymph · 1 year

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How are Lizzie and Joel in the Actor AU? Both individually and them together

Lizzie’s a very famous, seasoned actress. She’s starred in a couple well-known films, and is usually cast as the love interest. The quality of said love interest varies wildly, but she’s quite good with romantic subplots. It’s fun for her to just get to be the badass queen of the ocean.

Joel isn’t as well known as her, but he’s still got some recognition to his name. He and Lizzie met onset during a film. They’ve done a couple projects together by now, but this is by far the biggest and longest. He’s usually comedic relief, which he still is here, to an extent. But he’s really enjoyed Empires so far just because he gets to really lean into his unhinged side, something he doesn’t get to do often. The director gives him a lot of creative freedom when it comes to his character.

Joel and Lizzie have some of the most natural chemistry together on camera together. After realizing this, the writers ended up adding in the wedding mini arc just to really lean into it. Plus, they needed something more lighthearted before they went all in with the Xornoth arc.

#Actor au

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scrapyardboyfriends · 8 months

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In my opinion, 2015 was quite good even without Robert and Aaron (though that really stepped it up). I actually found the Ross/Debbie/Pete storyline really captivating, especially with the reveal at the wedding and then them thinking Ross died. It was quite well done. After 2015, I started to lose interest if Robert and Aaron weren't involved in a story. Also, the ships were better in 2015 too. Robron had electric chemistry, and Ross and Debbie had genuine chemistry as well, and I think that's something really lacking in the ships now. As a result, it makes it hard to believe that there's actual love between the characters. Like I'm sorry but are we meant to believe Mack loves Chloe, because there's NO chemistry there lol. You know things are going downhill when they're seriously planning on getting Victoria with her ex fiances son lol

I wasn't the biggest fan of Ross and Debbie but they definitely had more going for them than any ship these days. I was far more of a Ross and Donna person. That was good stuff.

The relationships these days are tragic. They just throw people together with no build up and then it's like "set it and forget it". They get no development as a couple until suddenly they have a random plot that either breaks them up or lasts for two seconds and then they're off screen again.

I was trying to think if there are any couples in the terrible trio's run that I've though actually worked.

Bernice and Liam are one that I thought actually worked really well and they did get a lot of fun story and development. It's just a shame that Sam had to leave and screw it up because nothing they've done with Liam since, relationship wise, has really worked as well.

Liv and Vinny worked fairly well. I mean I have my own personal reasons for appreciating that relationship but they meet all of my low bar criteria, which is impressive these days. Because Liv was ace they couldn't just have them sleep together and suddenly be a couple. They actually had to tell a different kind of story. Different being that there was a story. Haha. But no, they had to go through different stages because of the ace aspect. And that gave them more time for development. Plus being the romantic subplot of the Paul saga gave them more screen time to develop too.

Jai and Laurel were a good match. And they did actually get something of a story getting together although they could have done a bit more. But they've at least had various plots over the years to actually develop them as a couple.

Marlon and Rhona reuniting worked fairly well. Now, I think they work largely because of all of the history between them that the terrible trio had nothing to do with so I can't give them too much credit.

Matty and Amy I like, but I like them in spite of the absolute nothing that the terrible trio have done with them.

Billy and Dawn I liked in their first incarnation but I still think they missed a huge opportunity to have Billy be a part of the Malone lie and be ride or die for Dawn in that crisis. Instead they broke them up and only really put them back together again because they had to replace David and Vic in the Meena story. Now they're...fine I guess but they only get annoying kid stories.

But the rest...

Vic and Luke were insulting. Vic and David were okay sort of until external reasons ruined them and then they should have just let it go. And now we have this Vic and Jacob thing, which is just weird. Ethan and Marcus were a whole lot of nothing. Nicky and Suni could be something but I have no faith in these people to actually put in the work. Wendy and Bob have been pretty awful. Wendy and Liam were horrific. Chaddy lasted waaaaay past their sell by date. Belle and Tom are boring. All of Gabby's relationship attempts have been terrible. Brenda and Eric and pretty dull and are really only together because the actors are together in real life. Mack and Charity really never worked. Mack and Chloe is a joke. Amelia and Noah are kind of obnoxious. Arthur and Marshall could have been something but then...weren't. Will and Harriet were...not great. Will and Kim are so mismatched they have never worked for me and their relationship also came out of nowhere and was never developed properly. Andrea was the worst thing that ever happened to Jamie. Andrea and Charles were pointless. Charles and Manpreet could have been something but they overly relied on their convoluted past and haven't developed them since. Jacob and Leanna were all over the place just for extra dramatics when she was murdered. Graham and Rhona were terrible and never made much sense. And Ben and Aaron were obviously an abomination.

I could go on but you get the idea. I really think relationships are one of the biggest things they need to work on. Because they can be great sources of drama but also great sources of positivity if done well. And the show is desperately in need of the occasional bit of positivity.

#emmerdale complaints corner

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mermaidsirennikita · 8 months

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I’m too afraid that a Wallflower adaptation would be absolutely butchered in an attempt to appeal to non romance fans/puritans pushing for sexless media…

I think several issues would corrupt that show, tbh. Those you mentioned, for sure. Imo, The Wallflowers does a superb job of balancing the standalone nature of a good romance and an ongoing plot. You can read them on their own, but (imo) they are MUCH better when read in sequence, especially Winter coming off of Autumn. But if you adapted them somewhat faithfully, they'd all work in a mini-like way.

But of course, I think people would feel the need to have these dumb subplots to make it less romantic. We'd get some bullshit about Westcliff and Simon doing a business thing, Lillian starting her own company, Daisy going out to be proto-Louisa May Alcott/Eloise Bridgerton. I'm sure we'd see Evie getting abused by her family/sexually harassed by her cousin onscreen, because we super need that.

And I think there would be this need to connect things more than necssary. The books do some of it, right? Like, Westcliff and Lillian do get foreshadowed a ton in Summer, and I do think you have this through-line of their life because Lisa LOVES Westcliff, and the series basically ends with their firstborn coming into the world... Until Christmas, which would theoretically be a great finale/special, where you do see more of Evie and Sebastian because Lisa realized by then where the money shot was for fans lol.

But like. I can just SEE them seeding Evie and Sebastian way more than is necessary to create a continuance, and part of what makes their romance so good is that it is so out of nowhere for both of them. I think Sebastian alludes to seeing her in passing at one point, but he was like "whatever" because she was SUCH a Wallflower.

And I do think they wouldn't do the sex justice. Frankly, I don't really think Hollywood is currently casting a lot of men with leading man potential...? Or like, sex appeal? A lot of them read very boyish. I think a Wallflowers show would ideally be diversely cast, I'm not married to like, a blond white guy playing St. Vincent, but I don't even see where anyone is really getting a lot of actors that could pull off the brusque masculinity of Westcliff or the ridiculous sex appeal of St. V.

I mean, it can be done. Before it went downhill and everyone started fucking with everyone's hair, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe were super well cast for Outlander. (David Barry was toooo.) Interview with the Vampire has not one, but TWO super hot and talented men in the lead. It can be done. But then you've got Bton, where they lucked the FUCK out with casting Rege for the first season, they lucked out again because while Jonathan Bailey is ultimately "a random white guy" visually, he's charismatic, very talented, and had great chemistry with Simone Ashley... and benefited from a first season that for all its flaws was way more enjoyable to watch and set the second season up for success, I'm sorry. Every other leading man on that show is "another random white guy". Put the dudes they have lined up against a Sam Heughan, a Jacob Anderson, a Sam Reid--both in terms of having a Distinct Look and Vibe and talent, it just doesn't compare. Mainstream American casting directors currently are not tapping into the type of mindset that like... the people casting Kdramas are. Or, on a good day, the people casting telenovelas and daytime soaps. The well is DRY. Girls? They can still find talented, charismatic girls. But I feel like, in part because there's such a need to make everything wholesome and it's easier to sell a hot grown ass actress as wholesome and sexy versus a hot grown ass actor.

So. Yeah. I don't know. I just don't think it would be done super well, lol.

Also, they'd completely bastardize the St. V plot in Autumn. That just wouldn't be done today. No fucking way. He'd like, shove Lillian off her horse or something lmao. IF that. There would be no kidnapping. Certainly no threats.

And I'm sorry, but that kinda ruins the whooole thing.

#romance novel blogging

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moonymanoush · 1 year

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Bridgerton: Thoughts on Seasons 1 & 2

Hello all! I finished season 2 of Bridgerton and had to take a minute to truly digest everything, and these are my thoughts! I want to go into each Bridgerton individually and explore the character themselves and any romantic interests/conflicts with other characters before getting to the subplots.

Daphne, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth will not be mentioned individually because they did not play a large role this season. Daphne was off in the country with her husband and baby and tried supporting Anthony, but other than that does nothing. I didn't really mind her absence because I dislike her, I simply can’t get over the scene in season one. Simon also annoyed me and while he was an idiot for basing his entire life on a promise made to an abusive megalomaniac, he didn’t deserve to be sexually assaulted. The TV show tried downplaying what Daphne did in comparison to the books, but rape is rape and I just don’t like Daphne as much after. Francesca's absence was due to the actress's inability to be on set as I heard she had another show to film so nothing to say about that. Gregory and Hyacinth both had minimal scenes but I absolutely adore these characters!!! Gregory’s scene with Anthony just went to show how much they both view him as a father figure as Edmund died before either one of them really even knew him. Anthony's love for his younger siblings, especially in the dance scene (Love, love, loved that!! One of my favourite scenes in the entire show to date), was especially endearing. Now onto the main events.

Anthony’s character development this season was really amazing. In season 1 he was just so insufferable to me, especially after getting Daphne engaged to Lord Berbrooke and being overly misogynistic and sexist. Seeing how his trauma and the responsibility he shouldered at a young age affected him was refreshing. The scene where he had a panic attack after seeing a bee sting Kate because of his own father’s passing: amazing acting, cinematography and overall chemistry. Speaking of acting: I love Anthony’s actor because he’s just so charismatic and talented, especially with Kate on screen. The book season 2 is based on, The Viscount Who Loved Me, was different from the show and unlike most people, I genuinely liked the changes they made. I actually hated the bridgerton books because they were so redundant and every man had some kind of trauma that made him a misogynistic piece of shit. First and foremost, changing the Sheffields into the Sharma’s for some South Asian representation was amazing. I’ve never seen a dark-skinned Indian woman cast into a leading role, even in Bollywood films. However, she is not treated any differently from any of the other women and her skin and race are seen as completely normal. The show puts in things from her culture such as chai, turmeric masks, hair oil massages, bangles, having Edwina call Kate Didi and other little things that I can’t think of right now. It was just so refreshing to have such amazing representation on screen that didn't take away from the plot. Anthony’s attraction to her isn't seen as strange or bizarre, she isn't an outsider by any means (Other than being a spinster, but that is because of society and not her culture) and her character would be the same (other than the small cultural changes) if someone else was cast. Also, I love Anthony’s obsession with the way she smells. It’s no secret that there are certain stereotypes about how ‘bad’ desi or south Asian food smells and how that extends to the people as well. I really appreciate how Anthony was sniffing Kate at every single turn. Overall I really enjoyed the casting and representation of Indian women (in particular dark-skinned ones) in such a well-known show.

However, speaking of representation and casting decisions. I really liked the idea of this whole “colour-blind” cast they got going on. People of Colour don't get any representation whatsoever in period pieces and I really appreciated that a diverse audience got to see themselves in media. However, my problem is a conversation between Simon and Lady Danbury in Season 1 where Lady Danbury states that if the Queen did not marry the King (out of love) they would not have gotten all these lands and titles. I find that acknowledging race in a single sentence reduces that struggle. They should've simply stuck with the colourblind casting decision and left it unacknowledged or dove into issues regarding race and prejudice if they were going to ‘explain’ their decision. Furthermore, the cast, while being diverse, is still primarily white. Due in large part to the Bridgertons being cast as white. Since they are the focus of each season, one person in each relationship will always be white. Overall, I’m just happy with the representation given and these are just small details I wanted to bring up.

Moving onto Anthony’s romance this season. As we know, this is a romantic show, so we obviously know each couple is going to end up together. That’s why the whole “will they, won't they” thing the show has going on in season 2 is so annoying. It goes on for far too long and without probable cause. I enjoyed some of the changes the writers made like the bee scene between Anthony and Kate. In the book, The Viscount Who Loved Me, Kate is stung and Anthony sucks the venom out of her wound. They are discovered, she is compromised, and a marriage of convenience ensues. I appreciate that the writers deviated from this plot because this is exactly what happened in season 1. Daphne and Simon are caught in a compromising situation (By Anthony no less) and are forced to marry. I like the change and I didn't mind it as much as other fans. However, I despised the whole love triangle between Anthony, Edwina and Kate. In the book, after the bee incident, Edwina is completely fine with their marriage because she was not committed to Anthony at all. She ends up with a scholar I believe and is completely supportive of her sister. The problem with this love triangle and how long it went on, made Edwina seem completely insufferable. I seriously began to despise her as a character. All this talk of “how could you do this to me, Kate, you know I loved him, blah blah blah” was so infuriating. Especially when Kate discouraged Edwina from going after Anthony and told her he would never love her. I genuinely don't know what she expected from a man who kept going on about duty and the importance of roles and explicitly said he was against any romantic notions. Edwina was selfish and naive and placed the blame on anybody but herself. Maybe because I am (technically) the eldest sister in a Middle Eastern household I relate too much to Kate, but I don’t care. Edwina was so annoying (in the show, not the books). I hated that the whole Edwina and Anthony farce went on as long as it did: they were literally down the aisle saying their vows! And then suddenly in the last 10 minutes of the last episode, Kate and Anthony are married and happy as newlyweds. This season needed more episodes or better pacing or less pushing aside the main characters. It was just frustrating that 90% of their relationship was longing glances and partial banter while trying to remain inconspicuous in front of her sister.

I just wanted some actual scenes of their engagement or their wedding or anything that solidified their feelings based on their interactions as a couple. The whole thing was drawn out over 8 hours when we, the audience, knew they would end up together. It was unnecessarily prolonged and I don’t like how they fit their entire relationship into the last 2 seconds of the season: especially when they are the main couple of the book this is based on (The Viscount Who Loved Me). Speaking of those 2 seconds: Why were Kate’s breasts shown? What was the purpose? I feel like they just included that clip because people expected some nudity so they just added it in. But to me, it felt completely out of place and kind of awkward. I wanted to see fluff and wedding bliss and I got a minute of cuteness and tits.

Overall, I loved Kate and how she was portrayed. She gave up everything for her family and to ensure they had a good future. This is why it hurt so bad when Edwina called Kate her “Half-Sister” after jilting Anthony at the alter. Another thing against show Edwina. I wish they dove into Kate’s trauma regarding her birth mother and the death of her father. I felt like it was pushed aside for Anthony’s trauma (which is no less important!) despite it being something they bonded over. How they both were forced into a position of authority where they had to take care of their mothers and siblings after the death of their fathers. I love Kate with all my heart and she deserved better than being Anthony’s second choice (another reason I believe their relationship should’ve been delved into more after breaking things off with Edwina) and the shunning she got from her sister despite only ever having her best interests at heart.

Eloise Bridgerton is next on my list because I have so many thoughts about her this season.

I absolutely despised Sir Phillip in the book and if they make him her loved interest in the show: I will riot!!! In the book, Eloise meets him and he is a very sexually frustrated man: his wife is dead and they hadn't done anything since the twins (Marina having twins in the show confirms that shes the dead wife and I want to die) This is now a Sir Phillip hate page and I will not take any criticisms. Eloise is an amazing, dynamic character throughout the show (and books) and is very outspoken about her independence and belief in feminism and the like. Sir Phillip wants a babysitter he can sleep with more than a wife and I can't believe Eloise would ever be with such a man and have it written as a happy ending for her. Throughout the book, Eloise’s entire character is smothered and its just horrifying. Sir Phillip talks about how he doesn't want to be like his own abusive father but also says he wants to beat his children within an inch of their life. “When the children entered the room, half dragged and half pushed by their nursemaid, Phillip forced himself to remain rigidly in his position against the wall, afraid that if he went to them he'd beat them both within an inch of their lives. And even more afraid that when he was through, he wouldn't regret his actions.” (To Sir Phillip, With Love) I don't usually go about finding quotations because this is me ranting and I don't care about evidence in the midst of my ramblings, but I just wanted to show how awful this man is. I could provide a hundred more examples of how awful this man is and how entirely unsuitable he is for Eloise.

Moving on to better prospects: Theo Sharpe and the footman. I know I wasn’t the only one seeing the glances between Eloise and her footman, and season 2 played into her relationship with Theo. Seeing as the show tends to part from the books on certain occasons, I sincerely hope they make the same decision now. And before people are like “But we all like Sienna in season but prefer kate now! We must trust the writers to fix Eloise and Phillip!” No. Never. Absolutely not. Kate and Anthony were already a good couple in the books, in comparison to Eloise turning down 6 previous offers of marriage because she wanted true love and ended up with someone who wanted a glorified babysitter with the added bonus of sex. He literally brings up how his last wife didn’t do it with him and how he thinks Eloise is withholding a right from him. Eloise deserves someone who loves her and loves the world as passionately as she does. She deserves a partner, not an overlord. Theo brought her books and discussed feminism with her, he challeneged her and made her into a better person that was able to acknowledge her privilege despite being a woman. I hope Eloise get’s a story liek Benedict’s where she marries someone below her station because I genuinely can’t ever see her marrying Sir Phillip.

I didn't mind the Featherington plot line as much as other people did. Simply put, the side plots had the same plot time as they did in Season 1, the only reason why people were annoyed is that Kate and Anthony were not involved in them as Simon and Daphne were. Overall I liked this season and the only thing I can say is I hope to see what the producers do with Colin and Penelope in Season 3 (RIP my boy Benedict for having his turn taken). I don’t necessarily like their dynamic right now (Colin is insufferable and Penelope is too self-righteous: going as far as to start blaming Eloise for all the damage Lady Whistledown has done… yeah no. I respect the hustle but at least own up to it) but I like the idea of having a plus-sized character being a romantic lead seeing as she lost weight in the books before being seen as desirable, but there is no indication that the show will do the same.

Benedict is the epitome of privilege. Every privilege that exists, he has it. He’s a straight, white, wealthy, landowning, able-bodied, cis-gendered aristocrat. He’s a member of a powerful and well-connected family. Now, that pretty much applies to all the men in the series. But Simon, Philip and Gareth all have abusive parents and traumatic childhoods and Michael is an orphan. It doesn’t excuse their dickishness but it does make them more sympathetic. Anthony carries the trauma of his father’s death and the massive responsibility of being made head of a large family at 18. Benedict doesn’t have any kind of struggle to offset his privilege. He has no responsibility, never had to work for anything. Colin’s in the same position, but he does something with his privilege - he travels and writes and doesn’t act like an asshole. Benedict just mopes around for years. He’s apparently a really talented artists but he never works at it or trains for it. But then when decides he wants to be an artist, he takes up watercolours and becomes a celebrated painter within a few years. I really, really liked how the show deviated from that and made him pursue Art school and made him a more empathetic character. Book Benedict was an ass. Show Benedict is relatable and so funny!

He’s literally had everything handed to him on a silver platter. Then, the one time he doesn’t get his way, when Sophie says no to him, he is furious, he calls her stupid, blackmails her into doing what he wants, puts her in a position where she can’t get away from him and harasses her until she gives in. He doesn’t listen to her when she gives her reasons for saying no.

There’s a power imbalance with all the couples because of the way society treated women in the 19th century. But the imbalance is the worst between Benedict and Sophie. Sophie is the least privileged person we meet in the series. Not only is she not a member of the aristocracy, but she is completely alone. She has no money, no power, no family, no friends, so support. She is abused by her stepmother until she escapes. She gets a job working for a nice elderly couple in the country, it’s the best job she can hope for in her circumstances, Then their awful son arrives and tries to rape her. Benedict tells her she’s stupid for putting herself in that position. He doesn’t listen to her. He doesn’t respect her wishes or her decisions. He uses his power over her to force her to come to London with him and work for his mother. Sophie is completely vulnerable and Benedict uses that to get his own way. At least when Anthony is being a dick, he’s aware he’s being a dick. During the scene in the study with Kate, when he’s at his most dickiest, he knows and feels shame for it. Benedict thinks he’s entirely in the right the whole time. He does eventually see the error of his ways and apologises but I felt it was too little, too late.

It’s not just that Benedict keeps pressuring Sophie after she’s said no, it’s what he’s asking her to do. I don’t even judge him that much for asking him to be his mistress, Sophie is a servant and he can’t marry her, but having a mistress was somewhat acceptable for a man in his position. (Although just because it’s acceptable at the time, doesn’t mean I have to like it.) Yes, Anthony pretty much intends to do the same thing, and he’s an asshole for it. But once he falls in love with Kate there’s no question of him having a mistress, he’s a one woman man. When Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, he still intends to get married and he’s hoping it will be the mystery lady. He intends to have his cake and eat it too. He loves Sophie and wants to marry this other lady he has feelings for. He wants to marry this lady he claims to have feelings for, while keeping a mistress on the side. He really only gives up on the idea of finding his mystery lady when he realises that she’s Sophie. I think that’s another reason I can forgive Anthony more easily than Benedict. That scene in the study is Anthony’s worst moment and he improves from there, while Benedict doubles down on his worst moment for several chapters afterwards and his redemption comes very late in the novel.

The third reason is not really anything Benedict does, but it’s how he’s written. Because he doesn’t really feature in any of the other books, we don’t get to know him as well as the other characters. Anthony and Colin feature heavily in The Duke and I, and I liked both of them by the end of that book, but didn’t have any thoughts on Benedict. The scene with Anthony and Eloise in Philip’s study during To Sir Philip With Love is one of my favourite moments in the whole series. Colin pops up in other books being charming, funny and sweet. We don’t get that with Benedict. So when I say he has no personality, I’m not really being fair to Benedict as he doesn’t get the same chance as other characters do to show different sides of his personality, and that’s a fault with the writing not the character. But it means the only impression we have of him is from An Offer From a Gentleman and sadly, I think he was too much of an asshole for a large part of that book and wasn’t properly redeemed.

The sad thing is that it could have been very easy to write him not being an asshole. Instead of being angry and throwing a tantrum when Sophie says no, imagine that while Benedict is upset, he accepts her decision and then brings her to London and gets her a job working for his mother to help her without ulterior motive as he did when he rescued her the first time. They encounter each other at number 5 and fall more in love but they can’t be together (the pining!) until he decides he doesn’t care about bowing to social expectations anymore and asks her to marry him before finding out who she is, and before his mother finds a way to make it acceptable. Add in a few scenes in the other books that show him paying attention to Penelope and the wallflowers and that’s a Benedict I would have loved.

Therefore, I think picking Eloise to play the whole rich x poor storyline would be far better. The tension she has with Theo is *chef's kiss* while I think Benedict might be better suited for a potential gay romance at his fancy art school (I'm not the only one who noticed the tension between him and the painter in season 1 right??) I don't know honestly but I really don't want Benedict's character to be ruined when it comes time for his season.

Finally, I love Penelope (Claire from Derry Girls!! <3) but she was seriously out of order. If you're going to be a villain, at least own it. But the entire rant to Eloise was self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic, claiming that she's done something and Eloise can't stand it. Lest we not forget that she outed her unmarried, pregnant cousin to the entire ton in season one because she was jealous. Especially in that time when women were already looked down upon, Marina comes from a poor background and doesn't have the protection that a reputation can afford her. The family she's with is poor enough as is and cannot afford to help her in any meaningful way. If Phillip hadn't shown up, her entire life would be ruined. Penelope should have spoken to Collin or even Eloise in private but she did it via Lady Whistledown to absolve herself of guilt. She didn't even do it out of the goodness of her heart and believing the Bridgertons shouldn't be manipulated --- she was jealous! Plain and simple. Plus, she went on to call Eloise a political radical, as if that wouldn't have had her persecuted. Like yes, Penelope is girl-bossing with her business but she can't go around saying she hasn't used people's secrets against them with negative repercussions.

That's all for now. I'm so excited for season 3 and I am absolutely looking forward to when Netflix finally releases the trailer. Yay!!

#bridgerton #kate sharma #anthony bridgerton #daphne bridgerton #netflix #netflix shows #netflix series #regency #renaissance #penelope featherington #lady whistledown

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starsarefire824 · 6 months

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i am a byler who was also a casual reylo enjoyer when the new trilogy was coming out, and i was always very surprised when people would say they thought it came out of nowhere. i’m not the biggest fan of enemies to lovers, but i can follow a simple formula, and they did have a lot of chemistry. i feel kind of the same way about byler — except with friends to lovers, obviously — and i look forward to laughing (nicely) at people when the two of them get together in s5 and some won’t see it coming.

obviously canon or not shouldn’t be the only determining factors for liking a ship, but i do think people are kind of blind to romantic subplots, sometimes. i thought reylo was pretty obvious from at least the second of the three movies.

Hey nonnie!

Oh I completely agree with you! I think I would say that Reylo was my most passionate ship besides Byler and Townhull. I was pretty hardcore into it. Like I remember when the Last Jedi trailer came out and we were all freaking out because it proved that everything we thought was right. Those were fun times for me as far as fandom goes! And I agree they had an obvious chemistry. And I literally remember walking out of The Force Awakens, turning to my friend with a raised eyebrow like, "Uhm---did you think there was sexual chemistry between Rey and Kylo---or am I a psycho?"

HAHA, she at the time was like--"I was NOT getting that--" but then by the last jedi she was totally on board. So yeah....sometimes I think it's just easier for some people to pick up on certain things between characters and sometimes it's not. And sometimes I think a lot of it has to do with the actors themselves. Like if there is chemistry there sometimes they'll lean into it with the characters.

And I think that that is something that's happened with Byler. I think that Mike and Will's actors have chemistry, and I think the creators realized that. I think, even though there was a certain direction that was always possible with the writing, I think that, like Adam Driver and Daisy Ridely, Noah Schnapp and Finn Wolfhard's chemistry definitely made that more of a natural thing. <33

#byler #reylo #anon asks

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mariejordans · 7 months

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Do you have any TV show recs with really good romances?

oh boy, do i! one thing about me? i’m gonna watch a show for the romance subplot. but also this is such a broad topic, i’ll try to narrow it down into two categories: show recs with romance as a main plot, or at least a good majority of the plot, and show recs with romantic subplots that aren’t the main focus! so without further ado…

starting with the former:

bridgerton. i know there’s a lot of mixed feelings about this show, a lot of them are definitely valid, and while the first season romance is kinda meh (and questionable), the second season makes up for it completely imo. i was obsessed with kanthony for a good few months after s2 came out, just because the chemistry between the actors was just so potent and explosive. it’s a true enemies to lovers trope if i’ve ever seen one and it’s just so well done imo

one tree hill. early 00s cheesy teen dramas are kind of my kryptonite and oth is probably the king teen drama of all imo. i wouldn’t say the romance is the main plot of most of the show (and not a lot of the romance is great 😭), but it is a major plot point of a lot of the seasons. i’m recommending this for one reason and one reason only: nathan and haley. it’s a classic popular guy x nerd girl and they get together after she starts tutoring him in secret and i just love what their relationship turned out to be. haley is a badass and i Love her and naley basically raised me, so that’s why it’s here :)

doom at your service. honestly, i could recommend quite a few kdramas, bc a lot of them do have what i consider “true” romantic main plots, but i thought i would narrow it down to one. it’s about this young woman who has an extremely shitty day and wishes on a shooting star for the world to end, not knowing that the spirit of Doom himself is actually listening. idk how else to describe this show honestly, the main couple between the young woman and Doom is just soooo so so so good, it’s so sweet and very romantic, i just really can’t recommend it enough.

as i was starting this list, i realized i didn’t have very many true romance shows so let’s move onto the next category, which are the romantic subplots 😭

marvel’s runaways. i think i would maybe recommend this show before everything else just because it has a lot of similarities to gen v and the romantic subplots are *chef’s kiss*. i LOVED karolina and nico, one of my favorite wlw ships, and i also really loved gert and chase as well. it did, unfortunately, get cancelled pretty early but still well worth the watch imo.

agents of shield. another marvel show, honestly one of their most underrated shows. i’ve never really been super interested in the mcu, but i loved some of the older, adjacent tv shows (aos, runaways, CLOAK & DAGGER.) my favorite romantic subplot in this show is fitzsimmons, one of my FAVORITE friends to lovers ships, i think the way they were developed was so perfect, had just the right amount of pining, angst, and slowburn. i also love mackelena and may and coulson!

the wilds. okay, so i have a complicated relationship with this tv show, but just know that s1 is AMAZING. shelby and toni are another one of my fave wlw ships and don’t even get me started on leah and fatin…they weren’t a crackship, it was real to ME. i don’t wanna talk about s2, but s1 is definitely worth the watch.

anne with an e. gilbert and anne. that’s all i have to say. if you liked the rivals to lovers aspect in limoreau, you’ll love shirbert. also, it’s just a very cozy and comforting watch.

the good place. this show had me fucked up but in a good way. the romance between eleanor and chidi isn’t the main focus, but i think it adds so much to the characters development and to the plot of the show. even the crackships are good, tahani and eleanor had great chemistry, and jason and janet were just hilarious.

alchemy of souls. another kdrama and i want to preface this by saying kdramas, especially costume dramas like this one, can be super hard to get into. they’re very long (episodes can go up to an hour and a half) and often veeeery slow, but it’s TOTALLY worth it in my opinion because this show has one of my favorite romances EVER. that first season ending? oh it’s so good. i binged this in like a week and i couldn’t watch anything for a while after because i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

mozart in the jungle. probably the most obscure show on this list, and FARRRR under appreciated. as a classical musician who is currently studying music in university, this show was right up my alley when it came out. the romance between hailey and rodrigo is slow and a bit subtle at first but they were such a fun and dysfunctional duo that somehow fit together perfectly. they just got each other perfectly, imo. the ending left me heartbroken a bit, but i’ve since come to realize it was the best possible ending they could’ve given us and i’ve made peace.

ALRIGHT THAT’S IT THAT’S THE LIST (pt. 3)

i had fun making this! anon, i hope you find that one of these shows works for you and also that you still think i have great taste after 😭

#why am i kinda nervous to post this 😭#if it turns out i do have bad taste pls look away 😭😭#asks #recs

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nobleclover · 1 year

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How to do a Better Velma Show

No, I haven't watched HBO's Velma because it sucks ass based on the reviews, and I don't wanna boost its ratings by hate-watching. So, instead, I'm gonna provide a few ideas that I have to make a better show centred around Velma. These are only my ideas but feel free to give your opinions on them.

Make Velma flawed, but likeable and relatable. No character is perfect, but it's fine to include a few flaws in some characters. For her, maybe make her just a little bossy, regarding Shaggy, but not to the point of insufferable, in fact make her learn what being a good leader is, while keeping in touch with her famous characteristics. Make her a bit too quick thinking, but eventually have her learn better critical analysis when it comes to solving mysteries.

Race swaps are fine; include them if you want, but leave out the goddamn stereotypes, e.g. Velma being a pretentious, know-it-all southeast Asian girl. Like, not all Asians are like this!

Cut down on the gore and sex scenes. This is when they were set in HIGH SCHOOL, right??? So, why does it have a scene of some girls showering with their lady parts covered? I mean, come on, I know it's supposed to be for adults, but don't sexualise kids! Or keep bringing up peepee jokes in relation to some kid! (I'm talking about the one with Fred) Plus, as someone who draws gore, gore doesn't equal "mature show". Putting gore in a show for shock value just comes off as lazy. I also recommend either having the murder victims killed off in a "clean" way (no violence like removing their brains, maybe something mysterious) or maybe have them kidnapped or something. Yeah, Mystery Incorporated had a lot of death but didn't go over the top with its violent scenes.

Hire better voice actors. The voice acting in this show is terrible, particularly for those voicing the side characters and Mindy Kaling. :/ The other main characters, I feel they could be better, but the character with the most tolerable voice acting is Norville, voiced by Sam Richardson. He could sound a little goofy like Shaggy, but not too much. Speaking of...

Give my man Shaggy more respect. He doesn't have to get with Velma, but he also doesn't need to be treated this shitty. Like, maybe have her be touched by Shaggy's confession, but politely let him down and apologise for not being able to return those feelings. Also, make him a dog lover, a foodie, and take out the "junkie" jokes. Make him smart yet goofy as well!

Fred could've SERIOUSLY been done better. -_- I don't mind him being written as a rich kid, but maybe have him be a kind guy who's eager to be independent and start his own trap making business. An idea his own dad looks down upon. Have him be fed up hanging around with his douchebag jock friends and start hanging with the Mystery Gang slowly over time. Oh, and a personal choice, make him neurodivergent. :D

Make Velma neurodivergent as well. Just saying. UWU

Take out the godawful meta humour and pop culture references. I don't need to explain why, but I will say that Mindy Kaling should've actually put a lot more effort into her writing.

Have Daphne be only a slight snob, but not a bitch. In fact, have her eventually diss the status quo and go hang with the Mystery Gang and embrace her goofy self like in some other incarnations, e.g. Be Cool, Scooby Doo. Oh, and have her be part of the karate club.

Maybe have Velma's parents be more loving and perhaps diss the "missing mother" subplot. Maybe have them be divorced and Velma missing the time when they used to be together.

Somehow introduce Scooby Doo into this. The gang isn't the same without him.

More convincing platonic and romantic chemistry between characters. Doesn't matter if they're hetero or LGBT, MAKE THEM WORK.

BETTER DEPICTIONS OF PANIC ATTACKS.

Don't hire Mindy Kaling on the team. XD

OK, these are my thoughts on how to make a better Velma show! Feel free to add your own input as well!

#my thoughts #rant #velma dinkley #velma show #fred jones #daphne blake #shaggy rogers #no i will not be watching velma #mindy kaling sucks #she's transphobic too so yeah

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attheexactlyrighttimeandplace · 2 years

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Some thoughts about the writing and teasing of the romantic tropes on the show, specifically focused on Galadriel, Sauron/Halbrand, with some maybe unpopular opinions in the mix (mostly some scepticism about how it will turn out for the show and the fandom).

I was writing an analysis that is a half speculation half review of episode 8 in which i explain why i think some characters arcs have been rewritten this season and why it doesn't work for me, when i realized that what emerged of these messy choices is mostly the transformation of the relationship of Halbrand/Sauron and Galadriel in the season finale, in something way bigger than what it was supposed to be initially (it's my theory).

I mean they only shared 2/3 scenes together in episode 8, but the execution of these scenes was done in a way that seems to make their relationship at the centre of the story and to promote the actors concerned, as if they had become the two young hot stars of the series.

Morfydd Clark has always been the leading lady but i never had the impression until now that her Galadriel overshadowed the rest of the cast. Halbrand was certainly given a lot of attention for a minor character, but mostly because he shared almost all his scenes with Galadriel.

Retrospectively, it seems like the writers used this storyline of letting Sauron (and not halbrand) tag along with Galadriel mostly to put the actor in the spotlight. I mean their relationship could have been played exactly the same even if he had stayed Halbrand the southlander, descendent of the men who took a blood oath with Morgoth, the man who sided with Adar during the mass murdering of entire villages. Reduced in the last episodes to what he really was: a fraud with the revelation that he was never the king of the Southlands and his crimes were too horrendous to be forgiven, and that Galadriel by bringing him back to this land had only revealed the hold that Adar had on him and the gravity of his crimes making redemption impossible for him.

Sauron didn't need at all to be bind to her to be established. There was at least one subplot inside season 1, that could have been perfect for Sauron and that didn't require to involve Galadriel with him. This other actor would have been the best choice for the Dark Lord, would have been everything that Charlie Vickers completely failed to be in the few scenes where Sauron revealed his identity: badass, threatening and looking like an ancient being with a very old soul.

I have one or two theories about the reasons the two showrunners (and only them, not the rest of the writing team who are veteran and whom i hope are wise enough to not try to make Tolkien's work something it isn't), took this direction but i'm more interested in the consequences of it.

I'm surprised that anyone can still believe after watching this season that the showrunners didn't intend from their meeting to give a romantic turn to their scenes. I know what Charlie Vickers said in his post final interviews: that he and his co-star Morfydd Clark played their bond as purely platonic (which is a really sensible and valid take), but he seems to forget that this interpretation doesn't match the context of their scenes.

No matter how hard they tried to limit their chemistry, all those scenes spent on a raft alone, wet and thus barely covered by their clothes, all those close ups on their faces while they are shouting at each other and getting more and more physically close to the point they lost all sense of personal space, all these camera shots focused on their arms/hands touching, the intimacy created by the way they stared at each other in episode 5: the entire sequence of their verbal sparring during their meeting at the royal court, that was filled with so much emotional strain when their opposition devolved into conflict, that it lead them to their haunting confession scene in the forge, in which they have watched in each other's souls according to the director of the episode (which was true at least for Sauron who saw the truth she was hiding until then), to their final mutual acceptation of their pull to each other and the desire to keep it and deepen it, and of course the proposal made during the mind control scene in which he offered to her a vision of the future where she would be his queen, it was all romantic tropes or filming techniques used to create the impression of romantic attraction.

I know the counter argument: "but Sauron can't love". I don't believe either he can love, but he can show for sure obsession of control, possessiveness, lust, jealousy and agressivity which are all the ingredients of toxic relationships.

All those examples proved in my view that the showrunners want to stage on this series their own dark "romance". I don't know why they think it's a good idea or why they think it's something that the viewers want to see (i don't want it and i'm not alone), but i believe they think it's not a violation of the canon if it's done in the same way it was done by Tolkien in one of the non published versions of Luthien and Morgoth's meeting (Charlie Vickers mentioned this last story too as an important part of his interpretation of the journey of Sauron before he become fully incorporeal, so i assume the writers wants to integrate it in Sauron's arc at one point, with Sauron and Galadriel reenacting the part where Lùthien played Morgoth).

Like many fans have already guessed, it won't be of course as fully developed as a real relationship would be, not now that Galadriel has clearly rejected any kind of interest in being his ally or his queen and will try to cut as much as possible any form of contact with him, after he forced himself on her mind. But one of the rings created in episode 8 is for her, and since Sauron helped to shape them, their power will allow him to read her thoughts and dreams if the series follows the book canon.

That's why, i expect more harassment and violence in season 2 under the form of CGI sequences like the mind control scenes in episode 8. More harassment as he's not taking no for an answer, and he turned possessive: since the scene in which he grabbed roughly her arm on the ship in episode 5 while she was offering only a handshake, to the way he emphasized the pronoun my in his line "my ally" in episode 8. And more violence too with Celeborn's probable arrival during this season, that will crush definitely any hope of submitting her and appropriating her mind, her thoughts, her desires and replace them by his, or get back her magical ring that he considers to be his property because he helped to make it.

To be honest, at this point i'm less worried about the risk that all those seeds, planted to attract a larger audience, potentially result in an unnecessary toxic one sided romance that would take too much attention and place, the damage has been already done on this front; and more concerned by how it can worsen the bad image, negative criticism of the show. The writers will still want the fans to root for the good guy, for Celeborn but after spending an entire season building this kind of chemistry between Sauron and Galadriel while they have barely mentioned Celeborn, it will be like emptying the ocean for a big minority of the fandom.

So this character that was completely absent from season 1, that was remembered only once by his own wife, that has a bad reputation in term of charisma, dynamism and popularity based on the fans reactions to the books and the films, is going to show up just like that, and claim back his status of husband of the heroine, and the showrunners think that no part of the fandom will turn against them and the rest of the writers?

My experience of fandoms tell me otherwise: it's not going to work, unless they have as much luck with the casting as they had with Lloyd Owen (whom could have easily endure to be in competition with Charlie Vickers, because of how popular he is in every way: for his acting, for playing a hero like Elendil admired and/or loved by all the others characters, for his looks and because the chemistry between Elendil and Galadriel has been clearly established), and it might even backfire and hurt the show's popularity and its reputation.

We're talking about a prestigious adaptation of Tolkien's work destined to become a classic, not the low quality franchise that is the Game of Thrones, thus the last thing the series needs is to be associated with ship wars on top of all the slamming it's already taking, especially when there was such a large margin to avoid them...

It's a recipe for a potential disaster, though i still believe strongly that season 2 will be better than season 1 if only because it will truly be an adaptation of the Appendices of LOTR, now that we reach the point where the war to control the rings can fully start.

My hope is the bad romance will be outshined by the epicness of the conflict for power and the new alliances that will be formed due to Sauron's attacks against the Elves, that it will be reduced to a footnote, something done only to "spice" the tale, and add some layers to Galadriel's arc. Something quickly forgotten when Sauron's physical body will be destroyed in Nùmenor.

#the rings of power #my trop reviews #episode 8: alloyed #galadriel #sauron #celeborn #elendil

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unnursvanablog · 10 months

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Good Omens, season 2 / tv show review

This is not a spoiler free opinion on the the second season Good Omens

Although I was excited about this new series of Good Omens I did have my doubts and wondered how it would all turn out. The first series used the entire story that Gaiman and Pratchett had written in the novel, so there was nothing left to build the season two story on. However, there was another book that those friends had planning that never came out and one can always depend on Gaiman to be able to churn out a decent plot.

But somehow one might find it hard to see much of that plotting in season two of Good Omens, because there really isn't much meat on the bones when it comes to the multi-threaded narrative, stakes and such things that season one had to offer and it becomes very much just a way for the actors to play with the back story of the main characters and chemistry that Tennant and Sheen have have with each other. And since most people were tuning into Good Omens for that very reason (to see Tennant and Sheen together) there's not much more to the story and everything comes together at a steady but pleasant pace with very little stakes; becoming the ultimate cozy fantasy with a very slow-burn romance.

At first you almost don't notice the near lack of plot because there's still that little hint of a mystery that the main character have to solve and it hasn't hit you yet that it's all just a fluff. But by the middle it's become a little obvious that this puzzle that the main characters are solving and the various side stories are don't any urgency, or stakes to then. Which makes it all seem aimless at times. But despite the lack of highly thought-out plots, I can't say there wasn't any character exploration going on in the second season of Good Omens - even if those characters didn't have as much of an arc or room to grow as characters we get a good feel for their values, why they are they way they are and their sense of the world and other things that do play a significant role within the story and explains certain decisions later on.

I also have to note the interesting use of romantic subplots this season with characters that almost mirror the two main character in terms of personality traits or aesthetics and how that love story affected or somewhat mirrored the relationship of the main characters in this will-this-happen-or-not relationship that Crowley and Aziraphale have. The ultimate slow-burn romance, which I really enjoy watching.

I thought for a long time that Gaiman was doing this (as well as another relationship that also manages to mirror the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale a bit) to make up for the fact that nothing was really going to happen right away with between these two immortal beings which is the glue that holds this story together, but it didn't turn out which I thought was great. I didn't expect it and I would have liked more than what we got with a better core story, but it still made my heart skip a beat. And I thought every little hint of this with the side shots and the mirrors was neat and well done by Gaiman.

Now, despite Pratchett and Gaiman started planning the sequel of Good Omens long before Pratchett passed away and the TV show existed and I applaud Gaiman as a writer this series felt like fluffy fanfic and as a bridge between the first and third series and the true, real plot of it all is all in the third season. That does not take away from the fun of it, but it got a bit frustrating towards the end. It never felt like a whole, complete story like the first one, which was frustrating.

It's fan service with a rather flimsy plot, but episodes easy to watch, there's good humor there, and you can literally watch Tennant and Sheen together on screen forever because they are just so good together. This is for the most part, if you don't focus too much on the plot that just sort of there, a very pleasant viewing experience. I just wanted something a little more complex, a little more plot and a little more risk to it all; not some bridge for something big in season three (because what if it just doesn't happen).

#good omens #TV Show Reviews #tv show review

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clarkgriffon · 1 year

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OBX Season 3: Jiara

Okay, let’s do it. Let’s talk Jiara. This one might get long.

Jiara fascinates me on a fundamental fandom level and always has. As a long-time Bellarke, one of the things that roped me into the show was ship gifsets (mainly JJPope and Jiara). So, when I first watched Season 1 to see both of those relationships be comparably so small in screentime, I was surprised. I’ve been neutrally positive on Jiara over the seasons (definitely with a boost after S2), but have watched this ship have such a huge fanbase after S1 alone, so much so that writers rerouted their own course to respond to fans. It’s fanservice, but that doesn’t make it bad. In fact, it makes it fascinating to me because I’m just so unused to that concept. (Legitimately, this is something I’ve discussed with my IRL friend because I’m just so intrigued by it.)

So, I’ve paid attention to Jiara, knowing that the writers were pivoting and being extremely interested to see how they’d pull it off.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I think I’d give it like... an 8.5? It was a really good pivot in my opinion (not the concept of Kie/JJ together generally, but how well executed they were in changing their flight path).

Starting with my gripes, Season 2 was used to put closure on Pope & Kie and to slightly build up JJ & Kie, especially in the late season. Retrospectively, I could’ve used something a bit more explicit in late Season 2 about Kiara’s feelings because we jump into Season 3 with the longing glances and heavy focus shots on Kie and JJ’s reactions to each other, which I think could be jarring to people who haven’t really been paying attention to this relationship. (Another mini gripe is that I wish we’d stayed a little longer on the “We never should have left Poguelandia” thing with JJ & Kie. I feel like it gets one mention and then let go even though it felt significant for both of them. Like I thought maybe JJ would get mad/be disappointed in Kie for helping flag down the plane, something like that.)

Additionally, OBX... well, they pulled an OBX. The main ship of the show fell in love in an episode. So was I surprised to JJ/Kie almost kiss by episode 2? No. And I don’t think it’s great writing, we skip the “figuring out their feelings” part and go straight into acceptance/denial. HOWEVER, I think they accidentally made something really unique out of OBX’s tendency to fast track their romantic subplots. A full season surrounding a romantic storyline fully about the aftermath of realizing that you have feelings for someone. It’s less of a “Will they/won’t they” and more of a “They almost did. Now what?” And to have that for a full season feels very unique, which I loved.

I adored the scenes they had. Starting with the JJ going into full panic when Kiara gets kidnapped (the first time) and then progressing from there. I really don’t know that they had a scene that missed? JJ’s freakout once they’re back in Kildare is one of my favorite scenes of the season because of how telling it is of JJ’s character. A great choice, in my opinion, to use the relationship with Kiara as an exploration of JJ’s low self-worth. He trashes her, calls her the worst thing imaginable (*shudders* Kook), and even though she’s mad, she still sees through it. Because she knows he’s just scared and vulnerable about fucking up AND has the added insecurity that he’ll be stepping on Pope’s toes. I think the one falter is maybe the money clip storyline, which I think was actually quite smart in JJ’s intentions (intentional self-sabotage), but was better in theory than execution.

I think the relationship was definitely a better exploration of JJ’s character than it was of Kie’s, but it did display Kiara’s deep levels of compassion, empathy, and understanding.

Overall, I’ve been fascinated to see if the writers could pull something that fans made out of one-off lines and actor chemistry and make it work and I think the answer is very much yes. As for the Bellarke to Jiara pipeline, after three seasons, I am finally jumping on (maybe not as rabid as the rest of you but yes I am finally here).

#obx spoilers #mira watches obx

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